After going 15-8-11 with 56 points in the MLS, losing their final regular-season game Sunday to the Galaxy in Los Angeles, the Sounders open the Western Conference semifinals Friday at CenturyLink Field. Sitting in third place in the Western Conference, the Sounders will host Real Salt Lake for the first of two legs in the aggregate series.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, and the game will be broadcast nationally on NBC Sports Network, regionally on Root Sports and locally on Kong TV. Radio coverage will be on 97.3 FM KIRO. The Sounders travel to Salt Lake City for the second leg of the aggregate series on Nov. 8, with kickoff scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Pacific time in Sandy, Utah.

Seattle and Real Salt Lake (17-11-6, 57 points) have already met three times this season. The Sounders lost 0-1 in Seattle on May 12, but the teams played to scoreless draws in their meetings July 4 and Oct. 17. With one more point through the season, Real Salt Lake gets the higher seed in the MLS playoffs, giving it home-field advantage for the Nov. 8 semifinal game.

The MLS playoffs begin Wednesday with Chicago and Houston playing in the Eastern Conference knockout game, with the winner going on to play Sporting Kansas City in the semifinals. Los Angeles and Vancouver play their single-game elimination on Friday, with the winner taking on San Jose in that branch of the Western Conference semifinals. D.C. United and New York will open their two-game Eastern Conference semifinals this weekend, as well.

Four teams will play for their respective conference championships in mid November, and the winners of those two-game series will face off for the MLS Cup in a single game Dec. 1.

Last season, in the Western Conference semis, the Sounders lost 3-2 on aggregate scoring to Real Salt Lake. Since joining the MLS in 2009, the Sounders have not made it through the conference semifinals.